Method of making cup chain



April 3, 1956 F. scHusTER 2,740,252

METHOD OF MAKING CUP CHAIN Filed April 1. 195s l ya l VZ? lf 77 Z INI/wrox J5 5 57 jg f7 f5 faam/:2' sa/arma? @729' j @M23/Amy? WWK!" United States Patent O METHOD OF MAKXNG CUP CHAIN Franz Schuster, Union, N. J., assignor of one-halt` to Richard Schroth, Union Village, N. J.

Application April 1, 1953, Serial No. 346,241

4 Claims. (Cl. 59-35) This invention relates to method of making Acup ch'ain having cups of the character disclosed in the Fishel Pat'eht No. 1,481,894 in which the cups are of the solid type having slots to receive the links, as distinguished from the bead chain type, in which the links are formed with enlarged ends, and the cups are shaped or wrapped around the enlarged ends, necessarily leaving a split bead. The split bead is weak, requiring only the spreading of the sides of the cup to release the link, whereas the solid type requires tearing of the metal near the slot to cause tensile failure of the chain.

According to the Fishel patent, the slotted cups are threaded on a tape, and the tape is cut within each cup to form the links, and the link ends are spread or upset to retain them in the cups. However, sucient force on the knife or chisel to sever the tape would produce an undesirable dent in the soft cup bottom therebelow serving as an anvil. Hence in practice the cutting force is kept sufficient to indent and spread the tape, but not enough to sever the tape or indent the cup bottom. For this reason a second operation is necessary, to run the chain over rollers to break the indented and spread tape into separate links. ln fact three machines are required, a threader, a spreader and a breaker, and the partially formed chain fed to the three machines in succession by three diierent operators.

It is therefore the main object of the present invention to make the cup chain in one operation, or in one machine requiring only one operator. Another object s to eliminate the breaker step, by cutting the links before they are inserted through the slot into the cup, so that they can be spread or upset without danger of indenting the cup bottom by the cutting operation.

According to the present invention, cup chain is made by forming cups having link receiving slots in opposite walls thereof, the cups are positioned with their slots in alignment, a link is passed through the nearer slot of a cup into juxtaposition with a preceding link in the farther slot thereof, and the opposite ends of the links are spread or upset. Preferably the link is passed through both slots of a subsequent cup before entering the nearer slot of the cup in process. The link is preferably precut from a metal tape, in timed relation to the cup forming operations. The blank for the cup is preferably cut from a strip of sheet metal, parallel slots being formed in the blank, the slotted blank shifted laterally in a direction parallel to its slots into drawing position. The drawn blank is preferably shifted the same distance into the chain way and there advanced forwardly into juxtaposition with a preceding cup with their slots in alignment, and to clear the way for a subsequent cup. The precut links are preferably shifted in the opposite lateral direction into alignment with the chain way.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a strip of sheet metal from which a blank is being stamped;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the drawing station in which the blank shifted from Fig. l is drawn into a cup;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the chain way to which the 2,740,252 Patented Apr. 3, 1956 ICC As shown in Fig. 1 strip 10 of sheet metal is fed forwardly between dwells in which a blank 12 is cut out. Preferably parallel slots 14 are cut through the blank 12 in `the same operation. The b1ank 12 is then shifted laterally in a directionparallel to the slots 14 to the drawing statin shown in Fig. 2.

In the drawing station the blank is drawn and formed into a c'up 15 with the slots 14 in the opposite sides thereof. drawn cup 15 is then shifted further laterally, preferably an equal distance, 'to rthe chain way shown in Fig. 3, where it is positioned with its slots 14 in alignment with preceding cups 16, 17, 1,8 and 19.(

y After a cup arrives at the chain Way, a slide 20 moves forward, engaging the cup and moving it from the position of cup 15 to the position 16, to clear the Way for a subsequent cup coming from the drawing station of Fig. 2.

At thi's time, as shown in Fig. 6, a stick guide member G descends to hold adjacent cups in position. The member G has a double foot 22 which bridges the space left by the cup 15 moving forward, a single foot 23 which enters the cup 16, and a half foot 24 which enters the rear half of cup 17. These guide feet have aligned guide grooves 26, 27 and 28 respectively in the bottoms thereof.

Meantime, a metal tape 32, as shown in Fig. 4, has had successive equal lengths cut olf therefrom forming links 34. The links 34 are shifted laterally in the opposite direction from the shifting of the cups, into alignment with the chain Way, as shown in Fig. 3. Here a push rod 36 comes forward, engages the link 34 and pushes it through guide groove 26, the rear slot of cup 16, guide groove 27, the farther slot of cup 16, and the rear slot 37 of cup 17, and guide groove 28 into juxtaposition or abutment with the end 38 of the preceding stick in the farther slot 39 of the cup 17.

As soon as the link is positioned, a spreading die or stake S, as shown in Fig. 5, descends which indents and spreads both ends of the link between cups 17 and 18. The die S has two stakes, the rear stake 42 spreading the link end 38 within the cup 17, and the front stake 44 spreading the other end 40 of the same link within the cup 18. Thus the link is simultaneously secured to the adjacent cups 17 and 18.

As shown in Fig. 6, when the finished chain is collected, the spread ends come apart and the adjacent cups are spaced apart a predetermined distance to produce a exible chain.

I claim:

l. Method of making cup chain, forming a cup having link receiving walls thereof, shifting said formed cup laterally in a direction parallel to its slots, advancing said shifted cup forwardly into juxtaposition with a preceding cup with their slots in alignment to clear the way for the shifting of a subsequent cup, advancing a link through both slots of the last cup and on through the nearer slot of the next to last cup into juxtaposition with a preceding link in the farther slot thereof, and upsetting said opposite ends of said advanced link in their respective cups.

2. Method of making cup chain, which comprises forming a cup having link receiving slots in opposite walls thereof, cutting successive equal lengths of metal tape to form links of the same length as said cup, shifting said formed cup laterally into a chain way, shifting a precut link laterally in the opposite direction into alignment with the slots of the cup in said chain way, advancing said which comprises slots in opposite shifted formed cup forwardly along said chain way into juxtaposition with a preceding cup with their slots in alignment to clear the way for the shifting of a subsequent cup, advancing said shifted link through both slots of the last cup and on through the nearer slot of the next to last cup into juxtaposition with a preceding link in the farther slot thereof, and simultaneously upsetting the opposite ends of said advanced shifted link in their respective cups.

3. Method of making cup chain, which comprises stamping out a blank having parallel slots therein, shift ing said blank laterally in a direction parallel to its slots, drawing said shifted blank into a cup having said slots in opposite Walls thereof, shifting said drawn cup further laterally, advancing said shifted drawn cup forwardly into juxtaposition with a preceding cup with their slots in alignment to clear the shifting of a subsequent drawn cup, advancing a link through both slots of said forwardly advanced cup and on through the nearer slot of said forwardly advanced cup into juxtaposition with a preceding link in the farther slot thereof, and upsetting the opposite ends of said advanced link in their respective cups.

4. Method of making continuous cup chain, which comprises forming cups having link receiving slots in opposite walls thereof, positioning said cups in succession with their slots in alignment, progressively feeding links er into the slots of said cups through the last cup in said succession by passing the front end of each oncoming link through both slots of the last cup and on through the nearer slot of the next to last cup into juxtaposition inside` said next to last cup Vwith the rear end of a separate preceding link in the farther slot thereof thereby bringing the rear end of the fed link inside of said last cup, thereafter simultaneously upsetting the opposite ends of said progressively fed links respectively inside said last and next to last cups, and repeating said link feeding ,and upsetting steps for said cups in the succession, thereby producing a continuous chain.

References Cited in the file of'this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,445,564 Stafford Feb. 13, 1923 1,481,894 Pishel Jan. 29, 1924 1,753,978 Wood Apr. 8, 1930 1,885,116 Kuehner Nov. l, 1932 1,094,144 Harris Apr. 21, 1944 2,499,592 Kramer Mar. 7, 1950 2,503,365 Vollet Apr. 11, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 614,381 France 1 Dec. 13, 1926 

